a wine processor

This week bubbles, next week summer

The architecture behind the June 13th VINTAGES release is predicated on many a premise but the cover girl and centre of bubbling attention is Sparkling wine. For this I applaud with as much robust positivity in prejudice as I can afford. The ad nauseam used adage “Sparkling wine goes with everything” is actually ad hoc, meaning it is always the solution, no matter the situation.

That VINTAGES has chosen to put fizz in the spotlight at this juncture is nothing short of brilliant. Yes, brilliant. It’s inconspicuous and dubious (incommensurate to December) and so appropriate (unlike the dead of February winter). Think about it. Father’s Day, on the verge of summer, sitting on decks, patios and porches. Grilling sea-swimming creatures, eating snacks and tapas, enjoying the warmth of life. All these roads lead to bubbles.

The JC Penney VINTAGES catalogue will have you believe that Sparkling is a remarkable entity and that it goes with all these things; lunch, casual dinner, snacks, summer days and evenings, date night, week night, the cottage, weekend brunch and a formal evening. And that would be entirely correct. The catalogue rolls out 20 variations this weekend. I’ve tasted them all and here are the seven to pop, pour and elevate your game.

Only a year and in conjunction with an improved Sparkling wine vintage for Riesling, short work has elevated the young Spark’s game. A repeat lees performance initiates the conversation, of cheese melted overtop composite laminate, with yeast burgeoning about. In 2013 the concrete crispness is cemented deeper, etched into stone and thus completing the sub-$20 legacy. That winemaker Paul Pender can coax Riesling character, striking Sparkling wine resolve and yet hover in the air of litheness, well, this is the kneading. Silty, salty earth and soft transitions to citrus acidity are a requiem for success as per the Twenty Mile Bench/Limestone ridges vouchsafe common. Can even imagine a bit of time turning this into sparks and honey. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted May 2015 @Tawse_Winery@Paul_Pender

This is a very effective bottle of bubbles, consistently produced, vintage after vintage. Some reserve on the nose, notable in its pear and yeasty aromas. Crunchy feel for fizz with a replay in flavour much like prickly pear and the tropical esters of yeast. Really good length. Simply well made. Tasted November 2014 @Jackson_Triggs

Obvious and exemplary cool-climate Sparkling wine, traditionally swayed out of Tasmania where bubbles are meant to be. Composed of northern Tasmanian (Relbia) Estate fruit, of Pinot Noir (67 per cent) and Chardonnay (33). Classic numbers (12.0 per cent alcohol, 7.2 g/l acidity and a pH of 2.91) with 18 months on the lees and triaged with no malolactic fermentation. The result is a stoic and aerified expression, to the upper reaches of the atmosphere, gently toasty and of an aridity that tricks, foils and emanates sweetness. Sharp, tacking and grooved in acidity grippy enough to firmly grasp the frozen, suspended finish. Drink 2015-2018. Tasted May 2015 @JosefChromy@bwwines

Auspicious opening for the top end, new Trius Sparkling wine, based on Pinot Noir (70 per cent) from Four-Mile Creek (Lawrie Vineyard), with support from Pinot Meunier (30). Five is the number of years slumbering on lees, a voyage into triage to transport this singular Niagaran into the stratosphere of the region’s pantheon. Arid, toasty and slightly oxidative as per the wild ferment, Craig McDonald style. The toast is spread with a tapenade of (more) lightly toasted nuts, tarragon, morel and earth. There is a feeling of berries, void of pigment, slightly tart and very fragrant. Also the not so pungent but forest emergence of basidiomycete fungus. Delicate, complex, creamy and simultaneously, so very dry. A wine to sip at a large gathering around an antique harvest table or deep into the next decade. Drink 2015-2028. Tasted May 2015 @TriusWines

In the realm of Champagne theory, this vintage-dated fizz plays a role of the belletristic kind. The characteristic rhetoric of style; beauty, sublimity and propriety all contribute to the old-school way. Composed of 60 per cent Grand Cru Pinot Noir and 40 lieu-dit-esque Chardonnay, from an early bud break (beginning of March) and picked vintage (early September). Has body and depth of fruit, humanistic stratification, density and compression. Bitterly, properly oxidized and rampant in acidity, offering a dance on the back tongue, of paralysis, palaver and paradox. Concentrated and imposing, far from the delicate or easy-going modern Champagne. Has guts and determination, risk-rapport, esteem and respect for vintage dated bubbles. Drink 2015-2022. Tasted May 2015

As direct, elegant and pinpoint accurate as ever. The ever so faint oxidative lean is uncompromising with a floating sachet of ginger, mace, absorbing toasted biscuit and caper brine. From phite to sweet crouton. Composed of 85 per cent Grand and 15 Premier Cru fruit from all over Champagne.

From my earlier note of October 2014:

A wine of social heredity, the Bollinger is tranquilized, entreated and centered by meditation. An arid, atomic and piercing Bollinger. Fine and misty, with ultra-classic subtlety, a living, breathing embodiment of a beloved house style. Exotic to a degree, these are bubbles in colourful pageantry, the Bollywood of Champagne, in grace, of flowing robes, hues in ochre and pastels, flowing like song and dance. There are beautiful bitter tonics on the finish. How can you not admire and be entranced by this style? What’s not to like?